Auto Bravado's ideas on the the Trucks or Cars Miles per Gallon: We all want better numbers, but do we really know how to get them? Let us learn that to get results is to have fun! There are tricks that it took many mechanics decades of experience to figure out and perfect.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Jalopy: The Great American

The GREAT AMERICAN Jalopy:

The jalopy is technically a dilapidated vehicle, but this article shows that it’s really the old great achievements and engineering marvels, isn’t it? Some of you really know what I’m talking about. You lived through it all; I just have marveled after the fact.

The Jalopy Definition:

Some of you may already know what a jalopy is, and others may be scratching their heads waiting for this explanation. Either way, I’m sure you’ll know what a beater, a hoopti, or a dilapidated vehicle is. Most of us have owned one, but those old jalopys tell a tale that we all need to hear. We can learn from forgotten engineering ideas, which are hidden gems of our past. One of these forgotten truths will help you restore new life to your truck’s or car’s miles per gallon.

The Jalopy Treasure:

Sometimes we think that the newest is the greatest. Consumerism certainly teaches that to us, but the reality is that the knowledge that we can learn from the engineering feats gone by in The Great American Jalopy. Take a 70’s ford truck for instance. The engineering was so simple that the amount of design required isn’t even obvious. How could it be? There is hardly a thing under the hood. Well, one of the things that we learn from that old jalopy is that mechanic schools slowly breed the wrong information into the car industry on at least one count.

What was forgotten?

They had had a ground wire directly from the engine to the negative terminal on the battery, but new cars don’t have it! Sounds simple right? What value could that have? Well, one article from the Dessert News interviewing a major executive of Ford said that there has been very little advance since the 60’s and some would argue, that little true innovation has occurred since the 30’s. Excepting for The Great American Jalopy, and they could even use a new direct grounding wire, we need to get back to the basics with our modern car’s and we’ll have better success.

Why it works:

With the advent of more modern metal smithy, or metallurgy it was believed that the body of a vehicle could be the ground, that since electricity travels at the speed of lightning there is no requirement for energy to go straight back to the negative battery terminal. Those engineers should have known better than to teach this to the repair industry. The engineers should have known from their required science education is: resistance increases over distance excepting the use of super conductors. And who ever heard of a super conductor being in a car? Okay, okay, I read too many science magazines, but the point is that the old idea makes a tremendous difference on the jalopy with a direct grounding wire because even if it currently had a direct grounding wire it probably is worn down and has extra resistance, just like the newer car that may not even have the direct ground.

Suggested article to make your knowledge more rounded on the subject:

Now, honestly, to truly have your jalopy, new car, or truck balanced with an extra grounding wire new car you’ll want to listen to your engine as is indicated by middle of my 12 gauge speaker wire article, or if you'd like to understand from a scientific but controversial view read my spark plug gap article, but that information about listening to your engine is only a start. You'll do this if you really care about your truck's or car's miles per gallon. Feel free to click around to read your complete balancing guide to have your engine powerful like the muscle car’s of old; to make that jalopy have the power, smoothness and efficiency like it was young again (Or, wildly effect the performance of your newer ride!); maybe even to make you consider taking that jalopy title away from your car and return it to the feeling, the power of a well tuned engine. And understand this: spend less in gas! Also, there are a few more tips about this available through an unlikely source. Check out the 12 gauge speaker wire article! Return to home: Truck's or Car's Miles Per Gallon

2 comments:

The article is easy to read. It isn't dry and boring; usually, when I read something like this I'm just trying to stay awake, but coming from someone who knows almost nothing about cars, I'm noticing that all the basics are covered and are easy to understand. In most sites all the information is seperate from the stuff you need, but here you have it all in one go.

I installed 2 grounding wires to improve my friend and colleague’s car miles per gallon and these are his results so far: "I didn't notice a change until getting up into 4th and 5th gears, then it seems to need less gas to get up to speed and definitely is running smoother. I had also put an injector cleaner into the tank with my last fill up, so I don't if it was all one or the other or some of both, but it's running a lot better and I'm happy with it. Thanks!" His car is a Volkswagon with an in-line 4 cylinder, maybe not technically a "Great American Jalopy", but VW has a long and influential history with America. I've noticed that V type engines (V6 or V8) are much harder to balance when tuning up, then an in-line engine and get even more out of extra grounding wires.